Yellow Fever Immunities in West Africa and the Americas in the Age of Slavery and Beyond

A Reappraisal

Bibliographic Data

ID9080582
AuthorsSheldon Watts (American University in Cairo, corresponding author)
Year2001
Volume34
Issue4
Pages955-967
Publication date2001-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Social History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4529 • E-ISSN: 1527-1897
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1353/jsh.2001.0071
PMID17595747
OpenAlexW2016518432
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited12

This article is a case study in applied objectivity as understood by mainstream historians. It addresses the problem of disease determinism exemplified by late nineteenth and twentieth century interpretations of the role played by yellow fever in "determining;SPMquot; the ethnic composition of the Caribbean Islands, the American South and the Atlantic coastal zones of Central and South America. In its extreme form yellow fever determinism held that the Christian God created Africans immune to yellow fever, with the intention that they should serve white plantation owners in the New World as slaves. The author--a cultural and medical historian long resident in the Non West--hones in on the disease determinism detected in several works written by Kenneth Kiple and systematically deconstructs Kiple's arguments

Ancient history · Political science · History · Rabies epidemiology and control · Toxoplasma gondii Research Studies · Viral Infections and Vectors